Sometimes merchandise must be disinfected before the consul will grant his certification on the consular invoice. A special blank is used in such a case, de claring that the goods called for in the invoice have been "disinfected in accordance with the Treasury Quarantine Regulations of October, 1910," under the consul's personal supervision. This document must be made out in duplicate, and a fee of $2.50 is charged. Moist hides of neat cattle must be immersed in a five per cent solution of carbolic acid or a one' one thousandth solution of bichloride of mercury before they can be imported into this country, and certificates of disinfection must be secured from the consular representatives.
The value appearing on the invoices must be the "true market value" or wholesale price of the goods at the time and place of exportation. When the documents reach the importer he may suggest such changes in the declared values as will bring them more closely in agreement with the true market value.
The appraisers at the port of entry in any event de termine whether the goods were correctly valued, and in the case of goods subject to an ad valorem duty, if the appraised value is greater than the declared value, an additional duty of one per cent of the appraised valuation is charged for each one per cent at which the value was understated. This extra duty is limited to 75 per cent of the value of the goods. An understate ment in excess of 75 per cent is considered a fraudu lent entry and is punished accordingly. Goods im ported on consignment are to be entered at the cost of production. All goods of foreign manufacture must be marked so as to show the country of origin, and all boxes, or cases containing such articles must be simi larly marked.
A number of articles may be imported under bond. Machinery, models of women's wearing apparel, samples, articles brought in by tourists for their own use, and shipbuilding material may all be .imported under bond for a period of .six months. Similar documents are required for the importation of goods by rail from Canada.
The Canadian Pacific Railway Company requires a "shipping order," by which the freight agent is or dered to receive the goods described. This order is issued in duplicate. The duplicate is filed with the customs official at the point of entry in the United States. Upon presentation of the original of this shipping order and after checking the shipment with the amount called for in the order and in the bill of lading, the agent signs the bills of lading. These are
issued in triplicate. One, the original and negotiable, is sent to the consignee; the duplicate is filed with the customs officials at the point of entry in the United States; the third copy is retained by the shipper. In addition, a "memorandum" is issued which corres ponds in every way to the bill of lading, but bears the heading "Memorandum" and states that it is "an acknowledgment that a bill of lading has been issued, and is intended solely for filing or record." The exporter must then prepare in duplicate an "export entry," stating in detail the marks and num bers of the articles, describing these articles and in dicating their values. Both copies are attached to the bills of lading when these are presented to the railroad company.
Four consular invoices are now prepared, of which one is signed by the United States consul at Van couver and is handed to the railroad company. For this a consular fee of $2.50 is charged. Two copies are filed with the consul and the fourth copy is kept in the files of the shipper.
One consular invoice may cover more than one car if going to the same destination. The form of the in voice used is identical with that required for importa tion by vessel.
9. The process of clearing.—When the ship arrives the merchandise must be cleared. The first thing to do is to file clearance or entry papers with the local customs authorities. Most custom houses are divided into a marine division, an entry division, a bonded merchandise division, a law division, a drawback di vision, and a liquidation division.
The entry division supervises the clearing of mer chandise. The papers to be filed are one copy of the bill of lading, a copy of the invoice, the consular in voices and an "entry blank" filled out by the importer, in which he has translated the value of the goods into United States currency on the basis of the rates published by the Secretary of the Treasury every three months.
The importer may make a "cash entry" or "entry for consumption," i. e. he declares his intention to pay the duties immediately, or may make entries for "warehouse," for "warehouse and transportation," for "warehouse and exportation," for "immediate trans portation without appraisement," for "transportation and exportation," and for "re-warehouse." If goods are not entered within forty-eight hours after the ar rival of the ship they are sent to the customs ware house and if not claimed after a period of one year they are publicly sold.